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Malignaggi last fought in May against Amir Khan (Photo by Augustine Dashiell, Plainfield Sports News).

Former IBF Junior Welterweight Champ Inks New Deal

Brooklyn, N.Y. (Tuesday, September 28, 2010) – Paulie “The Magic Man” Malignaggi (27-4, 5 KOs) announced today on his Twitter page that he has signed a deal to be represented by Golden Boy Promotions. The new deal comes after Malignaggi bought out his contract with long-time promoter Lou DiBella this past July.

“It was officially announced today!” Malignaggi stated on his Twitter page just before 5:00 p.m. “From here on now, I'm with Golden Boy Promotions! New show, so get your popcorn ready!”

After contacting Anthony Catanzaro from Team Malignaggi for comment, a similar amount of excitement was shown.

“We are very excited and looking forward to this new venture!” Catanzaro exclaimed via text message.

Malignaggi will join Amir Khan at Golden Boy Promotions, who also happens to be the last opponent that he faced when the two fought in May at the Theatre at Madison Square Garden. Khan won the bout when referee Steve Smoger called an end to the fight at the 1:25 mark of the 11th round. Prior to that pairing, Malignaggi avenged a controversial decision to Juan Diaz by handily defeating him via unanimous decision in a rematch last December.

After the Khan bout, Malignaggi originally stated intentions to move to the welterweight division and fight in Italy. It was also reported that he had his sights set on eventually competing for the European Championship, which is currently held by Matthew Hatton (40-4-2, 15 KOs), brother of Ricky Hatton. With the announcement today, it is uncertain if that continues to be the plan for him.

A native of Brooklyn, Malignaggi became the IBF World Junior Welterweight champion when he defeated Lovemore N'dou in a 12-round unanimous decision on June 16, 2007. He successfully made his first title defense on January 5, 2008, by taking a unanimous decision over Herman Ngoudjo and again defeated N’dou in a successful title defense the following May. The Magic Man then vacated his title in September of 2008 to fight then-IBO Light Welterweight Champion Ricky Hatton in the main event of a November HBO card in Las Vegas.

Malignaggi was born in Brooklyn but moved to Sicily when he was only a few months old. At the age of six, he moved back to the United States and began boxing when he turned 16 years old, learning his craft at the legendary Gleason’s Gym in Brooklyn.